I regularly read a variety of books that range in a variety of topics based on my own personal interests. Those interests tend towards Ancient History, Political Biographies/Autobiographies, Espionage, Billiards, Auto Racing, and Science Fiction & Mysteries. Here you will find my personal reviews of the books that capture my interest.
---David "Glamour Dave" Nienow
1979 was a pivotal year for NASCAR. And He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back tells the story of that year. Before 1979 NASCAR was a racing phenomenon that was associated with the south. Like southern belles, grits, country music, Mark Twain, and the Confederate flag. But February 1979 saw the first live network televised airing of the Daytona 500. The biggest race on the NASCAR race schedule, and the first race that starts the NASCAR race season.
Broadcast before the days of cable and 500+ channels to select from. The Daytona 500 race was broadcast when a major snowstorm was blanketing the country, and most American's were home bound with not a wide variety of television programming to select from. The result was a major television viewing audience, with a majority of viewers learning about stock car racing for the first time. And at the end of that race, race car drivers Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison end up crashing together and getting into a fight that wound up also including Donnie's brother Bobby Allison. The excitement of the televised race along with the end of the race fight between the drivers made headlines all across America and brought NASCAR to the conscious of the nation. And from the point on, NASCAR has seen tremendous growth in the sport of stock car racing.
And He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back follows the events on and off the track to the completion of the 1979 race season after the Daytona 500. The lives of the major drivers competing during the season are covered. Those drivers profiled include Richard Petty, Kyle Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Darrel Waltrip, and A.J. Foyt.
The author does an excellent job covering the relationships of the drivers, the friendships, the feuds, the rivalries, and the business dealings between drivers and the team owners. The drivers by the nature of their sport and the level of competition drives them into on the edge behavior that really makes the drivers personalities larger than life. The overall nature of the story of NASCAR, its drivers and team owners is fast paced, rollicking, and a fun enjoyable read. As a NASCAR fan and weekly tv viewer of each race I really enjoyed He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back. It was a fast read for me. :) I would expect that even someone not exposed to NASCAR will enjoy the adventure of NASCAR's 1979 pivotal race season.
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No Higher Honor recounts the story of Condoleezza Rice's time as the first woman to serve as National Security Advisor, and later as the 66th U.S. Secretary of State to President George W. Bush. 8 years of Condoleezza's life get detailed as she starts out at the beginning of the Bush presidency working as National Security Advisor. In this role Condoleezza worked to advise the president on national security issues, and to coordinate the information coming through the various intelligence sources as they effected the various foreign policy problems confronting the president. And her role also served to help harmonize the relationship existing between Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense. Condoleezza would even on occasion have to harmonize the views of the Vice President Dick Cheney as he would often present strong opinions on political and policy issues as well.
Throughout the book the reader is presented with an understanding of the foreign policy issues of the Bush presidency, and of the process by which foreign policy is handled at the highest levels of the White House and the U.S. Government. The reader learns that the issues involved are more often than not deeply complex, and the process of diplomatic negotiation is often a long drawn out process. Often there are more than just a few sides to a diplomatic issue with many vested interests competing for directing and effecting the possible outcome of a diplomatic matter.
As Condoleezza recounts her time working closely with President Bush, particularly as his National Security Advisor, she basically had to interact with him multiples every day. And in so doing, you learn that Condoleezza and Bush developed a pretty strong working relationship and respect for one another. And I will admit here and now, that I myself as a citizen was not a big fan of the President Bush. But through the eyes of Condoleezza, President Bush comes across more thoughtful, and more intelligent than one would suppose from the eyes of a citizen seeing him on the nightly news. Being as Condoleezza worked with the man on a daily basis and developed a deep understanding of President Bush the individual, I have to concede from reading the book that I learned more about President Bush. Enough at least to gain a bit more respect for him on the foreign policy end of things.
When Condoleezza becomes Secretary of State she no longer is able to maintain that same level of daily interaction with President Bush as she finds herself so much on the road, or more appropriately in the air travelling to foreign destinations as the United States Chief Ambassador. But Condoleezza's understanding of President Bush, and his complete trust in her comes through in the recounting of her diplomatic travels. And the many decisions that she made on the move to help promote United States interests, help improve the public image of the United State in foreign lands, and help improve the general welfare and economic interests of citizens in the countries in which she travelled to.
Something else that comes across very strongly as Condoleezza recounts her many travels around the globe, is that u learn just how many people are involved in helping the Secretary of State achieve the work involved. Throughout the many stories told, and the events that are recounted Condoleezza consistently mentions the many people working with her and their role in helping her achieve all the success that can be achieved in the many diplomatic efforts confronted. And many of those people are the career foreign service officers of the State Department who diligently work to promote the interests of the United States, and often find themselves working in some of the most out of the way locations on the planet, and can find themselves in dangerous situations because of those locations. All in an effort to promote United States foreign policy and to promote peaceful relations. Another subject that is brought to light in regard to our nation's career diplomats is how so many of the support personnel that work at United States embassies around the world, are often foreign nationals hired from local people to be found at each embassy location. And those people that are hired take great pride in working for the United States because they believe in the efforts that the United States makes towards promoting peace and helping the people of the nation in which they live.
I have to say that before reading this book, I was already an admirer of Condoleezza Rice. She was the cabinet member of President Bush with whom I respected the most. Her public track record in her job performance to me was the most impressive during the Bush presidency. But reading her story I came to learn and gain even more respect for her. The strength of her character, her intelligence, her expertise in foreign affairs, and the core strength of her ethics come through strongly throughout the book. Those characteristics come through each time that she recounts the many foreign policy crises that confronted her in her job. They come through as she recounts her handling of the many individuals that she had to deal with, particularly the many foreign leaders that she had to establish positive working relationships with. And some of those foreign leaders come from countries in which the political leaders and systems do not give any credence and support to promoting the idea that their own women should have any strong public and political roles in their societies.
Condoleezza's story is an impressive one. It's a story that is worth reading. It's a story that I strongly recommend. The reader will come away with a much better understanding of Condoleezza the public woman, and learn more about how our country handles it's foreign policy and the processes that take place in the background. For student's of foreign policy and international politics, I place her book right next to that of Jim Baker's and his The Politics of Diplomacy.
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I came across Big Man at a local discount store and noticed it by the front cover picture of Clarence Clemons. If u don't know who Clarence Clemons is, he is a big part of the sound of Bruce Springsteen's music and of the E Street Band. He plays Saxophone REALLY GOOD!!!! And he is very cool. :) If u know who he is that is.
This book is supposed to be an autobiography, but in reality this book takes a different approach from the normal celebrity autobiography. This book presents Clarence's life story through a series of short stories. And those stories of Clarence's are interspersed with other short stories by Don Reo who is the co-author of the book. Don Reo is a long time friend of Clarence Clemons, and an entertainment professional who has created numerous television programs not the least of which was MASH. Don's stories help to present Clarence's life from a bit of an outsider view as though you were actually in the background watching events unfold. And in between the stories of Clarence and Don you will find stories by Clarence on grey colored pages that tend to be stories that are based on dreams by Clarence or that otherwise tend to be of events that never took place but make a point or make u laugh depending on the story's intent.
The stories of Clarence's life take us up to 2009. Near the end of the book the reader learns of Clarence's health problems, about his last marriage, and how Clarence tried to cope with his health problems. I found his stories near the end of the book inspirational as Clarence tried to deal with his health problems while finding happiness in a new love and marriage, and his continued effort to produce his music, and performing for Bruce and the E Street Band.
Clarence died on June 18th, 2011 due to complications from a stroke. For fans such as me, Clarence's legacy is remembered by his music and his close friendship with Bruce Springsteen. The two of them together, along with the rest of the members of the E Street Band have produced a musical legacy that has left a deep impact on American culture and around the world. And will continue to do so for future generations. Reading Clarence's story I got the opportunity to learn about the Big Man himself, get a sense of his personality from his tall tales, and enjoy the experience of learning about his own personal and private legacy.
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